I Wasn’t Talking To You

Having multiple kids with diabetes can be a real challenge. <<<< Biggest understatement ever.

Ok in fairness this might have been the biggest understatement ever. Apollo 13. Totally unrelated to the post but most certainly an understatement.

Someone is always high or low or out of insulin or needs a site change or can’t find their meter or forgot to dose for a snack or has a low battery in a diabetes related device. There. Is. Always. Something.

I’m ashamed to admit that there are times I am a bit envious of my friends who have only one child with diabetes. That only lasts a nanosecond before I give thanks that multiples is not the norm.

My kids think I nag too much. The thing is, I bet on average I only ask each kid what his/her blood sugar is maybe 2 times a day and I might ask/remind each kid to bolus 1-2 times a day. That’s it. Many of my friends who have 1 child with diabetes ask/remind two to three times what I do. (Some even have the Nightscout system and have blood sugars sent to them 24/7 – totally not what I am going to talk about on this post – not sure I ever will share my thoughts regarding Nightscout other than we do not Nightscout.) I do have requirements that I expect to be met – a minimum of 3 checks during school hours and checks before eating. I let my kids do their thing and occasionally scroll through a meter to see that they are. If they are not we have a discussion. But back to how often I ask each kid about numbers and bolusing – not often.

HOWEVER – my kids hear a repeating record when they are home. What was your number? Did you check? Don’t forget to bolus. Etc. Only all the times I say it are not directed at one child alone it is distributed between 3 kids. The problem with this is regardless of whom I am badgering they all hear it – repeatedly – over and over and over again. It’s worse when I ask all three what their numbers were within the same few minutes and thus forget what each told me and ask again – ok that is my fault. Totally my bad.

Most kids with diabetes that don’t have siblings with diabetes get a break from the constant barrage of questions and reminders and nagging (all of which is done with love btw). My kids don’t often get that break because there is nearly always some diabetes dialog happening somewhere within earshot.

That must seriously suck for them.

It feels like this:

(gosh I hope you didn’t listen to the entire 10 minutes)

I totally need to work out some kind of system so there is a break in D talk.

Meri of Our Diabetic Life has a white board. Meri was recently quoted regarding one of her reasons behind her white board on the new Disney T1 Everyday Magic site “With three boys diagnosed with diabetes, I find it’s hard to keep track of blood sugar trends. To remedy this, I’ve hung a whiteboard in the hallway. We write all the nighttime numbers on the board for several days and then analyze the numbers on the weekend. Writing the number down helps us take ownership of the number. And erasing it when we’re done is completely therapeutic!” If you are a parent of a child with diabetes and you haven’t already checked out the Disney T1 Everyday Magic site maybe bookmark it and when you are done thoroughly reading my posts and leaving meaningful thought-provoking comments you should check it out.

Anyway – I envy Meri’s white board. I suggested a white board and my kids nearly staged a coup. They didn’t especially like the idea of having to see the numbers all the time. I get that. Oh and when I say ‘they’ I mean my oldest didn’t want to see the numbers all the time. She has been struggling with some stuff of late and I think she doesn’t want an “ugly” number written down where she would have to see it. Although I think some of the pushback from the kids was due to me suggesting ‘they‘ write their numbers down which requires them to do an additional task. But oh how I would love a white board. My mistake was in asking them what they thought. Sometimes I think we (parents) just need to make decisions and tell our kids what the new procedure will be. I don’t typically go that route since my kids need to own their diabetes but sometime I daydream about how nice it would be to just look at a whiteboard rather than ask questions.

About Christina

Mom of 3 kids, all 3 have Type 1 diabetes - I blog to share stories. I am not a medical professional and my thoughts are my own. Please do not make changes to your medical care plan based on my stories - always consult your medical team. Hope you find something in my ramblings helpful and or amusing. You can find me on twitter @momof3T1s and on my Facebook page Stick With It Sugar. May all your dreams forever be bolus worthy.

6 Responses to I Wasn’t Talking To You

Don’t know if this helps, but your friends’ kids who are the only CWD in their family do get breaks hearing that stuff, but when they do hear it, 100% of it is directed at them. They likely feel alone and/or different, whereas at your house, for better or for worse, it’s “normal”. And yeah, raising teens is hard. So far, I’ve only ever been on the other side (being the teen), but that’s not something I’m looking forward to.

Thanks Elisheva – The grass is always greener…..
As far as teens go – I am certain one day I will look back and laugh at all the crazy that are my kids and their teen shenanigans. I will also be laughing as I tell their kids all the crud their parents did. Insert maniacal laugh here.

Fortunately, I only have one diabetic child, and she’s 19 now. AND on a CGM (thank goodness) Of course, she still forgets to bolus at mealtime sometimes. I still get eye rolls whenever I ask if she’s bolused (unless she hasn’t – then she says “thanks”).

funny how the eye-roll/thanks changes. I have many adult friends who still occasionally forget to bolus – no one is perfect. I don’t know that as parents of CWD we will ever truly stop asking. Shoot I sometimes I have asked adult friends if they bolused – oh the looks I get. *sorry habit.

Disclaimer

Babblings about life with diabetes as seen from a moms point of view. Im not a doctor, nurse or diabetes educator. All posts within the blog are based on my experiences as a mother of children with diabetes. Please do not change your diabetes managment based on any informaiton found within the blog without first seeking assistance from your doctor.

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